The Ticket Window

The world of sports betting has come a long ways from being a shady backroom business to now apart of ESPN and other major networks weekly discussion points. If you enjoy sports and feel like you know enough about the games to make a profit, why wouldn’t you? But before you think you are about to go bankrupt the sportsbooks there are some general things you need to understand about sports betting.A successful bettors winning percentage is normally between 53% and 58%. Anyone touting a winning percentage better than 58% better show you proof and even then those bettors are just as susceptible to a losing streak just like anyone else. As much as we like to think we know what’s going to happen, the reality is we are rarely ever spot on with our own personal analysis of games. Upsets happen, teams play up or down to competition, and injuries can change not only the single game but the outlook on the rest of the season.

A successful bettors winning percentage is normally between 53% and 58%. Anyone touting a winning percentage better than 58% better show you proof and even then those bettors are just as susceptible to a losing streak just like anyone else. As much as we like to think we know what’s going to happen, the reality is we are rarely ever spot on with our own personal analysis of games. Upsets happen, teams play up or down to competition, and backdoors are left open on an hourly basis for meaningless touchdowns in the game to affect the betting world.

Vegas always wins. They just do. You can’t run a successful business if you are losing money. The public will fall in love with a team and want to ride what they believe might be a gravy train but then that train inevitably rolls off the tracks and the oddsmakers roll in big winnings. You have to remember that games are not played on paper and if it was a sure thing, it wouldn’t have odds to bet on.

Probably one of the most important tips I can give anyone who’s thinking about getting into the waters of sports betting is that you should never try to chase your losses. Don’t do it. Emotional betting has never made a consistent winner out of a single bettor and you won’t be the exception to the rule. Like I stated earlier, a successful bettor is winning 53 to 58% of their bets. so that is still 42-46% losses. Accept the fact right now that you are going to lose bets that you felt confident on and just learn to move on. It is a sound strategy to keep your betting amounts the same rather than betting some games big and others small which could lead to a good winning percentage turning a loss because your biggest bet loss and your smaller bets won.

I’m not gonna spend time explaining the in’s and out’s of the gambling lingo. If you have a question just shoot it over or there are also many gambling introductory articles online that go over the basics.

There are plenty of great sites to do your bets from. BetOnline, 5Dimes, Bovada, Sportsbetting and a few more. You make a deposit of $50 or more and then you are able to access and choose the games and the odds you would like to bet.

Each week I’ll give you five picks for college football and three for the NFL. The reason behind the low number of picks is that if 53% success is the bare minimum for making a small profit, why would I want to pick 20 games a week and run even longer odds of missing out on profit or even worse losing money? There are 45 or more college football lines a week and 12-16 NFL lines. By picking just five for college, 3-2 makes for a 60% winning percentage. 2-1 makes for a 66% winning percentage.

DISCLAIMER: I have been gambling for 5 years now. I am not a professional doing this as my main source of income so there are zero guarantees on the picks that I give you.